The Herbal Encyclopedia
Gathering, Storing, and Using your Herbs
GATHERING: When gathering or harvesting your herbs, first be absolutely sure you know what you are gathering! This is very important when gathering plants from the wild. Be absolutely certain you know what the plant is before you attempt to use it. If you are not sure of a particular plant, or it "looks like" something but could be something else, leave it alone. You would be better off to purchase the herb through a store or mail order. The alternative may leave you dead. If you care about our natural plants, you will prefer to purchase or grow what you need. Today's herbal needs are creating quite a strain on the numbers of medicinal plants in the wild.
Know what part of the plant you need. Some plants are used in their entirety, others only specific parts. When you are gathering plants from the wild, remember not to take all of a particular species you may find in an area. Leave some to grow and seed and flourish for the next time you need them. Removing all of a group of plants is rude, and the Goddess would not be pleased. Give thanks to the plants you take for your uses. Sprinkle around some of their seeds, to help them propogate. Give them an offering, i.e. some natural fertilizer, a prayer, etc. in return for your uses. When taking leaves or branches of a plant, leave plenty for the plant to survive.
The parts of the plant above ground should be harvested in the morning, before the heat of the sun has a chance to wilt them. It is preferable to do so when the dew is still on the plants. Leaves should be harvested before the buds and blooms appear, and flowers should be harvested before the fruits and seeds appear. Bark and roots should be harvested in the early spring, just as the plant is beginning to show its leaf buds, or in the fall, just as the leaves are turning. Don't strip bark from around a tree trunk, as this will kill it. Instead, strip bark from small patches, or particular limbs, to preserve the mother plant for later use, and to preserve its life.
When using an entire plant, it is customary to hang the plant upside down in a dry area free from pests to allow the plant to dry. Make sure your herbs have dried thoroughly before storing them for further use, or you may discover that you have a moldy mess instead of a medicinal herb. Roots should be carefully washed, scraped, and chopped into small pieces to be sure they dry uniformly and thoroughly. Bulbs are tied together and strung up to dry.
The dried portions can then be stored according to your needs. Roots are usually ground into powder for use, or left in small chunks for uses in decoctions, tinctures, and syrups. Leaves are stored in their entirety, or crumbled for use in teas. The same applies for blossoms. Store your herbs in air-tight containers. The best containers to use are colored glass. The herb then does not pick up impurities from plastics, and does not eat through your plastics, as can happen. Store in a dry, cool area, and keep out of the light. This is the reason for using colored glass. Light can often break down the healing properties of your gathered herbs, shortening their shelf life and rendering them nearly useless after a short period of time. If stored properly, the shelf life of dried herbs is approximately one year. Tinctures can be stored for up to two years. Capsules should be used within one year. Once an herb has been ground, it shortens the amount of time the herb is effective. So do pay careful attention to when you have purchased or stored an herb, for maximum effectiveness.
